Femoral compression devices for applying pressure on a patient's femoral artery after completion of an interventional procedure are known. An example of such a femoral compression device is disclosed in the patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,811 and EP 0 462 088, which are assigned to the present assignee and whose contents are incorporated herein by reference for the compression devices and methods disclosed therein.
A femoral compression device according to these publications comprises basically a pressurizing means for compressive bearing against a puncture site at a femoral artery of a patient, a belt adapted to be fixed around the patient's body, and a base plate supporting the pressurizing means and being provided with two extensions. In use, the pressurizing means, which e.g. has the form of an inflatable semi-spherical air cushion, is positioned over the femoral artery, and the belt, which extends from the end of the first extension, around the patient's body and to the end of the second extension, is tightened. To apply pressure on the femoral artery, the inflatable semi-spherical air cushion is inflated by a pump to a certain predetermined pressure, which is read from a pressure gauge.
The air cushion may be a replaceable air cushion unit preferably packaged in a sterile package to minimize the risk of contamination of a part which is in contact with an area on a patient's body, and which can be exposed to the risk of infection. An example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,427, which is assigned to the present assignee and whose contents are incorporated herein by reference for the compression devices and methods disclosed therein.
In use, the inflatable air cushion is positioned over a femoral artery of a patient, and the belt, which extends from the end of the first extension, around the patient's body and to the end of the second extension, is tightened. Then, the inflatable air cushion is inflated by a hand pump to a certain internal pressure, thereby expanding the air cushion such that the femoral artery is compressed in order to prevent bleeding through a puncture hole being made in the artery wall. The internal pressure, which can be read from a pressure gauge provided on the pump, should be raised to a value between the diastolic pressure and the systolic pressure—which is a procedure that has proven to work very well for the vast majority of patients.